Untouchable
by MaplePucks
Summary: America reflects on the day that changed his life forever. The day he learned he wasn't untouchable anymore. *9/11 Hetalia fic. America's POV,*


**I debated long and hard about doing a 9/11 Hetalia fic. I didn't want to be disrespectful. I visited Ground Zero back in March for the first time and my friend had to force me to be be in a photo with them at the site. I just think it's hallowed ground and something that should be respected. **

**Writing this was just a way to get me own personal feeling out. I'm so effect by 9/11 and what it means for the country, I hope I expressed that well enought here. **

**Reviews on this would be very nice. I worked hard to get it just right.**

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_America's POV_

For years, I thought I was untouchable. I thought that since I became a super power after World War 2 no one would ever try what Japan had again. Besides, I taught him a lesson he and the world wouldn't forget. Not that I am super proud of what I did, mind you, but the ends justify the means, right? My bosses told me it was the right thing to do, that lives would be spared. We did what we had to do.

Look, point is, after that I truly believed I was untouchable. I was deluded by the notion of youth being the same as invulnerability. I'm a young nation, compared to the others in Europe. Just barley an adult but still…

I was completely invincible.

Until that clear September day. A Tuesday I think, that whole week kind of meshes together for me, but I'm pretty sure it was a Tuesday.

The day my life changed.

More than likely, if I'm not at a world meeting, I'm in New York City. I have several apartments around the city, it's just where I love to be! People say its heart of the nation, they don't know how right they are! The hustle and bustle, the liveliness, people just living their lives. I like to watch them, I love living with them, I only want the best for them. They're my people, being around them makes me happiest.

That particular morning was no different, I was grabbing my usual cup of Joe and donut breakfast in Times Square. It was a bit early, the city that never sleeps was perking back up, but I had a bit of a walk ahead of me. I'm not as lazy as people think and plus no way I'm taking a taxi! Have you seen those things?! They scare me, I'd so rather walk.

Where was I walking to? Oh yeah! That morning, it just so happened that the U.N was having a meeting in the New York headquarters. I was excited to not have to go far. Especially stoked to not have to take a plane to Europe. God, those were long flights!

As I walked, I saw a lot of my favorite things about the city. Times Square is really fun, all the flashing light a colors, even early in the morning. I stopped for just a second to look at the news feed. Not really much of interest that day…at least that point in time. I made my way out, sipping casually on my coffee and I saw business men, rushing this way and that. To me, it always looked like chickens with their heads cut off. I swear, they seemed busier than us nations and let me tell you, being a nation ain't no walk in the park! I find it amusing to watch. I also saw kids being rushed off to school, people saying their goodbyes for the day and just all sorts of people. Man, I love New York!

Why would someone attack this city?

I had just gotten to outside of the UN place. I was giving England my typical greeting, a huge invasion of his personal space via a hug, and was about to give Canada my signature headlock greeting when it happened.

When my invulnerability failed.

I wish I could say I just heard the loud explosion that rocked the city. That I had been paralyzed with shock and fear and just stared southward like everyone else, but that was not the case. We were too far away, we couldn't see anything but I knew. I told the others a plane had just smashed into the World Trade Center.

I felt it.

It was like I had been stabbed in the chest, or shot. Either way, pain, like I had experienced in war, ripped through me. I stood there, doubled over, clutching my chest and staring at the ground. England panicked along with Canada, both of them placed worried hands on my back, trying to comfort me. They told me it was an accident, it had to be. No. I knew, I knew that it was done with hatred and purpose. And I somehow knew there was more coming too. Straitening up as best I could, I gave England a sympathetic look.

Then I ran towards the Towers as fast as I could.

It was a long run, my chest was heaving and I was in so much pain, but I knew I had to get here. People were dying. My people were suffering. I had to what I could to save them. I didn't care what I could do or how I would manage it but somehow, I was going to get as many people out as I could.

I had just caught sight of the Towers when the second plane rammed into them. This time, I was brought to my knees in agony, mid run. No really paid me any attention as I howled on the side walk. Not that I wanted any, I was relieved they didn't notice. I didn't need them trying to help. I struggled to my feet, thanking God England wasn't there to fret over me and then continued racing to the Towers.

What I saw that day would make me boil over with rage by the end of the week.

I don't even want to describe what I saw. Nothing like that should have happened, anywhere but especially in a city. These people were innocent! Just business men and women, regular people doing their jobs. Fulfilling their American dreams! To be thrown into a combat like situation like that, my heart hurts thinking about the people inside the Towers. The people at the gaping holes, the people who had no way out, the people who were trapped by the smoke and fire.

The people I saw fall.

Till the day I fade from being a nation, the fate that inevitably awaits us all, I will remember that image. I wish I could have caught them, I was too far away and it wouldn't have done any good. Even as strong as I am, they would have crushed me. I couldn't handle it, as I watched and continued to feel the horror I started crying. Relentlessly, like a child. Who would do this to my beloved people?

I was never able to help anyone that day. I remember walking numbly around the site, looking up and then back down, watching the fire fighters and policemen scramble around. I couldn't do a thing! I was ashamed but I still couldn't do a thing. There were people coming out with burns, people screaming, crying, panicking. I wanted to console each of them, tell them it was going to be ok but I didn't even know myself if it was going to be.

Sometime between when I arrived and…well, what happened next, my nose was broken. I hadn't been punched or anything. I just felt it snap and start bleeding. I learned later that it was the attack on D.C. I was so over whelmed by that point I couldn't process anymore so I wasn't sure what had happened. I clutched my bleeding nose and somehow made it past the firefighters into the plaza. Right between the Towers, where the Globe is…was.

I remember the plaza music was still going. Cheerful, elevator type music was filling the area, while smoking debris and…other things…were all around me. The surreal feeling of it all hit me hard. I stood there, frozen in shock. I didn't even look up. I knew what was about to happen next. I could feel it start to shake in the plaza.

I'm not proud to admit this, even England doesn't know but I was unconscious before the first piece of rubble hit me. When the Tower started falling, it caused my heart to completely shut down. It stopped beating in my chest and I fell with the Tower. It came crashing down on me as I lay comatose in the middle of the plaza. But because I'm a Nation, I wasn't killed. I really do wish I could say the same for others that day.

Needless to say, I don't remember much from that point on. I don't remember feeling the deep gash across my chest I received from the plane crashing in Pennsylvania. I don't remember the second Tower falling. These are things I want to remember, for the people it happened to but I can't. My body shut down out of shock when the first Tower fell. How could that have happened? I thought theses structure were sturdy. I thought they would be around forever. I assumed nothing could ever take them down.

I thought I was untouchable.

How long I was trapped in the rubble, I'm not sure either. I know it must have been quite some time, they found me in a huge puddle of blood I rather thrown up apparently. All I know is the next thing I remember, I'm not likely to ever forget.

Hands. Lots of them, digging my half-conscious body out of the rubble. They were being placed all over my body, pulling and working desperately to free me. I remember when the last boulder was removed from my chest and I took a large gasp of breath, many of the hands started clapping and cheering. Then I was lifted up, carried over and out of the rubble by a sea of hands. American hands. Strong, resilient, willing to fight hands. Hands that had seen hard work and were ready for more. And the chanting. I remember the chanting so clearly, it still fills me with pride and inspiration for my people.

_USA…USA…USA…_

The next thing I absolutely remember is waking up that Friday in the hospital, surrounded by my fellow nations. England sat by me, I was told he didn't leave my side for a second from the moment I was brought in. Canada was there, he told me his people were taking good care of my people left stranded after their flights took them to his place. France was there too but he was unusually quiet and seemed nervous about something. Turns out later he was afraid I was going to go to war over this, we had a bit of a falling out over it. There were several other European nations, Asian nations and others. I was glad they were there, it made me happy but I still I was incredibly sad. I had lost something I was never going to get back.

I wasn't untouchable.

I never was.

It was all a delusion.

Ignorance had cost me dearly.

And I 'm still paying for it.


End file.
